One week ago, the Packers were on top of the NFC North world, with everything going for them. With one hard sack from Shea McClellin, everything changed. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is out indefinitely after fracturing a bone in his nonthrowing shoulder, and Chicago QB Jay Cutler is back on the field a week or two before the doctors had predicted. And, the Bears, Packers and Lions are all 5-3 and in the hunt for a division title. Depending on how long Rodgers is out, this could be a very interesting backstretch. “That’s how it goes sometimes,” Cutler said, in response to a question about the changing landscape in the NFC North. “I bet you were surprised by that, huh?” We all were.

Something in the works?

The special teams units for the Chicago Bears has taken a step back this season under the direction of Joe DeCamillas, and one thing they may be doing is setting up a little trickery to revive the return game. Although they never did it before Monday night, on each of the Bears’ kickoff returns last week against the Packers, they faked a reverse. While the obvious reason would be to set something up for the near future, it may have also been an option read for Devin Hester, who chose to keep the ball each time. Regardless, watch for some special-teams’ wrinkles in an effort to spark that group — and keep DeCamillas in Chicago for more than one season.

Quote of Week

Backup quarterback Josh McCown on if he’s “bummed” at all that his run as starter is over: “Nope. Jay is the starter, and I’m the backup. Jay got hurt, and I served my team by playing and doing what I could to help us win a ballgame.”

Stat of Week

The Bears’ offensive line has had one false-start penalty this season. The next closest teams have four. Last year the Bears had six false starts through the first three games, and led the league with 25 such penalties by the end of the season.